Judge throws out verdict against off-duty Chicago officer

Published 3:38 am, Saturday, October 1, 2016

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a jury verdict in favor of a woman who alleged an off-duty Chicago police officer attacked her during a road-rage incident.

In her ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis accused the plaintiff's attorney, Dana Kurtz, of engaging in a "pervasive" pattern of misconduct at trial, including repeated misrepresentations to the court.

The ruling means Nicole Tomaskovic will not receive $260,000 in damages for the July 2007 incident involving now retired Officer William Szura.

The Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/2cROCE3 ) reports the judge also ended litigation over whether the city had a pattern and practice of covering up bad policing.

Lawyers for the city asked the judge to take the action against Kurtz, who couldn't be reached for comment Friday. Tomaskovic's new attorney also was unavailable.